AZN vs GSK vs VRTX Stock Comparison

Astrazeneca, Gsk and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AZN Astrazeneca Plc
$186.64 +18.9% 1M +13.3% 1Y
Market cap
$292.88B
P/E
26.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$59.37B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
1 win
GSK GSK plc
$49.13 +4.5% 1M +4.8% 1Y
Market cap
$103.54B
P/E
8.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$76.96B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Gsk leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Gsk 5, Vertex Pharmaceuticals 3, Astrazeneca 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAZNGSKVRTXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $292.88B $103.54B $138.41B AZN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.6x 8.2x 34.8x GSK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.4x 9.6x 29.1x GSK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.8% +82.9% +10.2% GSK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 18.6% 16.4% 35.0% VRTX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 24.1% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.9x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.3% +4.8% +30.0% VRTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.9%/yr +2.5%/yr +24.0%/yr VRTX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.4% 26.0% 29.3% GSK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 79/100 76/100 GSK

Percentile Scorecard

AZNGSKVRTX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAZNGSKVRTX
Valuation 85 #96 of 623 91 #59 of 623 79 #131 of 623
Growth 59 #245 of 601 75 #153 of 601 60 #240 of 601
Profitability 94 #36 of 553 96 #24 of 553 95 #29 of 553
Financial Health 66 #226 of 654 52 #314 of 654 54 #302 of 654
Shareholder Returns 68 #119 of 367 84 #61 of 367 93 #28 of 367
Overall 74 79 76
  • AZN ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • GSK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • VRTX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAZNGSKVRTXSPY
1 month +18.9%+4.5%+9.6% -2.3%
3 months +18.2%-4.6%+17.5% -0.7%
6 months +1.7%-3.5%+28.7% +4.8%
Year to date +1.5%+0.2%+22.0% +10.3%
1 year +13.3%+4.8%+30.0% +10.3%
3 years +45.9%+42.7%+47.0% +73.0%
3 years, per year +13.4%+12.6%+13.7% +20.1%
5 years +46.2%+12.9%+192.6% +61.9%
5 years, per year +7.9%+2.5%+24.0% +10.1%
10 years +230.8%+24.4%+609.2% +258.6%
10 years, per year +12.7%+2.2%+21.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAZNGSKVRTXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.4%26.0%29.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.2%24.2%25.7% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.130.210.45 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.470.191.02 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.9%-38.8%-29.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.9%-19.7%-1.0% -3.5%
52-week high $209.48$61.18$558.71 $779.14
52-week low $155.60$46.11$409.47 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAZNGSKVRTX
P/E now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 17.4x 7.9xmedian 17.4x 31.9xmedian 17.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 8.9x 1.4xmedian 8.9x 11.1xmedian 8.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 17.0x —median 17.0x 26.5xmedian 17.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.2xmedian 21.4x —median 21.4x 36.9xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 2.1x 4.4xmedian 2.1x 6.9xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 1.13median 0.35 0.42median 0.35 3.14median 0.35

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAZNGSKVRTX
Revenue $59.37B $76.96B $12.95B
Gross profit $51.12B $56.19B $11.08B
Operating income $14.78B $17.15B $4.30B
Net income $11.03B $2.75B $3.98B
Free cash flow $10.63B – $3.20B
R&D $15.30B $19.61B $4.25B
EPS (diluted) $7.06 $6.12 $15.58
Cash & equivalents $7.94B $3.88B $4.98B
Total debt -$11.96B -$31.50B $4.50B
Shares (diluted) 1.56B 2.06B 255.20M
Enterprise value $266.77B $86.38B $110.40B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAZNGSKVRTX
P/E 26.2x 7.9x 31.9x
P/FCF 27.2x – 36.9x
P/Operating cash flow 21.9x – 32.6x
P/S 4.9x 1.4x 11.1x
P/B 5.6x 4.4x 6.9x
P/Tangible book 21.2x -11.8x 7.1x
EV/EBITDA 12.7x – 26.5x
EV/EBIT 18.2x 4.1x 27.7x
EV/Revenue 4.5x 0.9x 10.5x
EV/FCF 25.3x – 34.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.4x – 30.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.13 0.42 3.14

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAZNGSKVRTX
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.8% 82.9% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 28.3% 9.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.7% 84.8% 10.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 29.1% 9.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 15.4% 73.5% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 22.4% 20.2% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 17.3% -70.9% 21.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 23.2% -55.5% 9.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.5% 75.6% 22.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 23.2% 18.8% 10.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -12.6% – 11.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 1.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -22.8% – 8.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -0.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAZNGSKVRTX
Gross margin 86.1% 73.0% 86.0%
EBITDA margin 35.7% – 39.7%
Operating margin 24.9% 22.3% 38.0%
Pretax margin 22.4% 20.5% 41.9%
Net margin 18.6% 16.4% 35.0%
FCF margin 17.9% – 30.2%
Operating cash flow margin 22.3% – 34.1%
Return on equity 21.6% 71.9% 22.2%
Return on assets 9.4% 19.2% 16.3%
Return on invested capital 24.1% – –
Return on capital employed 9.9% 14.8% 20.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x – 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – 5.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAZNGSKVRTX
Debt / assets -10.0% -33.2% –
Debt / equity -0.2x -1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.9x – –
Debt / FCF -1.1x – –
Liabilities / assets 56.8% 74.4% 26.2%
Equity / assets 43.2% 25.6% 73.8%
Interest coverage 16.1x 10.1x –
Current ratio -1.0x -0.9x 3.2x
Quick ratio -0.8x -0.5x 2.5x
Cash ratio -0.3x -0.1x 2.0x
Altman Z-score 4.24 3.20 13.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAZNGSKVRTX
Dividend yield 1.3% 3.7% –
Net buyback yield 0.0% – 1.3%
Shareholder yield 1.3% 3.7% 1.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAZNGSKVRTX
Forward P/E 18.4xFY2026 9.6xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.00FY2026 $5.07FY2026 $18.24FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026 -0.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.1% +4.7% +23.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.02BFY2026 $48.12BFY2026 $12.67BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026 +5.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +1.1% +18.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAZNGSKVRTX
Held by institutions 52.1% 16.0% 95.1%
Institutions holding 1,498 1,039 1,747
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.8% -7.4% +3.9%
Institutions buying 809 484 904
Institutions selling 469 336 605
Buyers to sellers 1.72 1.44 1.49

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AZNGSKVRTX
AZN 1.00 0.59 0.46
GSK 0.59 1.00 0.44
VRTX 0.46 0.44 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AZN, GSK and VRTX?

Astrazeneca (AZN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Astrazeneca (AZN) $292.88B, Gsk (GSK) $103.54B, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) $138.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, AZN, GSK and VRTX?

Gsk (GSK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Astrazeneca (AZN) 26.6x, Gsk (GSK) 8.2x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 34.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Gsk (GSK) is cheapest (Astrazeneca (AZN) 18.4x, Gsk (GSK) 9.6x, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 29.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Gsk (GSK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Astrazeneca (AZN) +7.8%, Gsk (GSK) +82.9%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) has the highest net margin (Astrazeneca (AZN) 18.6%, Gsk (GSK) 16.4%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 35.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) returned the most: Astrazeneca (AZN) +13.3%, Gsk (GSK) +4.8%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +30.0%. Over five years, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) compounded fastest (Astrazeneca (AZN) +7.9%/yr, Gsk (GSK) +2.5%/yr, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) +24.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Gsk (GSK) has been the steadiest (Astrazeneca (AZN) 28.4%, Gsk (GSK) 26.0%, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) 29.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AZN, GSK and VRTX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Gsk (GSK) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.